


Jesus Christ 2015 God Bless America

by provocation



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Background Mild Sexual Content (Thanks Josh), Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2020, First Kiss, Haunted Houses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23610556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/provocation/pseuds/provocation
Summary: Josh and Sam try to set Chris and Ashley up. They fail their mission about as badly as a mission can be failed.
Relationships: Ashley Brown/Sam Giddings, Chris Hartley/Josh Washington
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	Jesus Christ 2015 God Bless America

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sludgeraptor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sludgeraptor/gifts).



> This is a gift fill for [sludgeraptor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sludgeraptor), who requested some Sam/Ash and then helped with the prompt. I've never had the opportunity to write Sam and Ashley before but I love their potential as a ship, especially in ridiculous and cheesy scenarios like this! Here's hoping that I manage to finish posting these leftover February fills before 2021. The title for this one is from The 1975's new song with Phoebe Bridgers, adapted for the correct year. I hope that you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

Halfway through her bag of cotton candy, Sam starts to worry that it might not be vegan. It doesn’t say anything on the packaging, so it’s probably okay— it’s probably okay, right? There isn’t even an ingredient list.

“Hey,” someone interrupts, pulling her sleeve gently. Sam turns to see Ashley staring at her. “You good?”

“Uh-huh,” Sam manages, and she even smiles. The shorter girl smiles back. She must be cold in only tights, shorts, and a shirt advertising some unfamiliar band. It’s only early spring; the sun is still up, and it isn’t windy or anything, but it’s brisk. “Let me know if you wanna borrow my jacket, okay, Ash?”

Ashley sounds strangely choked. “Okay.”

Thankfully for both of them, Josh intervenes. He’s still holding the oversized stuffed duck that Chris had won him in a shooting game, so it’s impossible to take him seriously. “Sammy, can I talk to you alone for a second?”

Sam nods, and follows Joshua and his duck away. Ashley and Chris both watch them go before turning back to the fairground, heading off towards another game. Sam averts her gaze from their friends, turning to Josh. “Do you know if cotton candy’s vegan?”

“... I think so,” Josh answers, cheerful and unconvincing. “We’ve got more important stuff to worry about right now, right? Remember the whole purpose of this carnal carnival?”

Sam grimaces at the gross description, but she nods in agreement. This plan started three weeks ago, when Josh had watched Ashley and Chris, in his own words, ‘canoodling during math class’. From the story that Emily had told it seems like they were perhaps just cheating off of one another, but trivialities like _facts_ have never stopped Joshua Washington. 

He came up with the brilliant idea of helping set them up, and Sam has been his partner-in-crime. It would be… nice, for Chris to get a girlfriend like Ashley. Ash is way smarter than any of them give her credit for, and she’s got a really surprising memory. Just last week Ash had gone on a coffee run for the group, and she’d remembered Sam’s order perfectly. She’s sweet, and she’s really cute.

The only problem with Josh and Sam’s perfect plan is that the more time Sam spends observing Ashley in return, she’s started to think that maybe Ashley and Chris wouldn’t make such a good couple. They get along great, but they’re not exactly… She struggles to place just why it feels wrong. Sometimes she catches Chris looking at Ashley, but he never watches her with affection in his gaze. He’s just a good listener.

She tries to avoid thinking about how she plays into all this as the audience, and whether she’s got a horse in this race or if it’s just wishful thinking.

But there’s no way of communicating any of that to Josh, who seems dead set on hooking up his friends. If Sam had to guess who Chris would end up with after high school, she’d probably assume Josh, actually. But there’s no point trying to tell him that, not when he’s in the middle of ranting about his weird romantic scenarios. “The man literally wears four jackets at all times, Samantha. Can’t you see that that’s the perfect opportunity for him to share warmth with Ashley?”

“Um,” Sam coughs, distracted. “Yeah, uh, sorry. I… won’t do it again? She looked cold!”

“She always looks cold,” Josh hisses. “We’ve got higher priorities!” Then his eyes light up and lock onto something behind Sam.

She frowns, turning around. Behind them is one of the slower amusements, the _Terror House._ Riders strap into a small cart that takes them through a haunted house, where Sam is sure various animatronic or minimum-wage frights will jump out at them. She can smell the thick, fake smoke from here. “Ugh. Josh, do they have to? Ash won’t even like that.”

Josh is grinning ear to ear. It makes him look like the Cheshire cat, or Beetlejuice. “Perfect!” he crows, before running back to the other two. Chris is in the middle of trying to politely turn down some game about fishing for prizes, and Josh convinces them to come easily enough. Sam hears him shout, “You’re gonna shit your pants, Cochise!”

“That’s not, like, alluring,” Chris says, letting himself be pulled over anyway. He surveys the Terror House with a distinct lack of terror. “This is made for fifteen-year-olds. I mean, look at the people coming out, Josh, they don’t even look that scared!”

“If only you could see the people who never made it out,” Josh sings.

Sam and Chris roll their eyes, but Ashley still stares at the ride. “How about you two bozos do this one,” she says, trying very hard to keep the fear from her voice, “and Sam and I go find an age-appropriate ride?”

“Aw, come on, Ashley. Chris’ll hold your hand the whole time,” Josh snickers, and tugs them both into line. The queue to get in is divided into two, so Sam and Josh end up in one single-file line while Chris and Ash are beside them. Despite Josh’s heavy-handed weirdness, Sam has to admit that this is a pretty good plan. It’s no Love Tunnel, but only pairs are being ushered in, so at least Chris and Ash will ride together.

Sam reaches over the barrier between them to take Ashley’s hand. The girl jumps and spins to look at Sam. “It’ll be okay,” she insists. “It’s not gonna be that scary, you can just close your eyes.”

“It’s not gonna be scary at _all_ ,” Chris insists. Ash exhales, nods, and shares a grateful smile with Sam. “I mean, what are we supposed to be scared of here? Plastic skeletons and dollar-store cobwebs?”

“Don’t disparage the good name of Terror House!” Josh whacks Chris’ arm. Chris smacks him right back, and the barrier doesn’t stop them from devolving into a playfight. Sam rolls her eyes and steps away, only to discover that she and Ash are at the front of their respective lines. 

But instead of taking Chris and Ash, the ride attendant ushers both girls forward. Ash moves while Sam flounders. Josh is too distracted to notice that he’s missing his opportunity to set Chris up, and so eventually Sam accepts her fate, moving to sit beside Ash on the ride.

Of course, Ashley is unaware of all their scheming. Sam slides in until their thighs are only a few inches apart, and the attendant lowers the bar to secure them in place. Ashley already looks nervous, throttling the metal bar in her fists. Guilt pierces Sam’s heart. “Hey, if you really didn’t want to do this ride, we didn’t have to…” Too little, too late. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine!” Her knuckles pale even more. “Like you said, I can just close my eyes.” And she does so, leaving Sam to watch her face. The track beneath them whirs loudly as their cart begins to move but Sam can’t focus on the ride, too busy pouting and watching her friend. Even in the shitty green fluorescent light of this unimpressive house of horrors, Ashley is beautiful. Her lips are perfect, and Sam feels sudden misery that she’ll never get to kiss those lips.

The startling thought is an unacceptable transgression, so Sam turns away to face forward— only, she does it at the wrong moment and a witch pops up out of nowhere in a puff of green smoke. “Fuck—”

Ashley’s eyes shoot open in a panic as if she forgot they were in a haunted house. “What— _aaagh!”_ The witch is followed by two of her friends, riding overhead on their broomsticks. The thick fake fog follows them, as does a cacophony of stock sounds: cackling and spiders skittering all around them.

Sam breathes shallow and fast, laughing at her own reaction. Maybe they’ll buy pictures afterwards. But then she realizes Ashley isn’t laughing. Her elbows are hooked around the metal restraint and her hands up to shield her face. The dark green and red lights flashing down from the ceiling do a poor job of illuminating her, but Sam can still see that she’s shaking.

“Oh no,” Sam whispers, the ride forgotten. She pulls Ashley towards her, gently easing her grip on the safety bar to pull her into an awkward hug. Well, awkward at first; it’s easier when Ashley turns into her embrace and hides her head in Sam’s shoulder. Sam turns too, circling her arms around Ashley’s back for support. “We shouldn’t’ve made you do this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ashley insists, muffled by Sam’s sweater. Sam curls her hands around Ashley’s shoulders, where she can feel the muscles clearly through her thin shirt. She _is_ cold. The ride starts to rise since they’re only at the very beginning. “It’s all Josh’s freaking fault.”

“You’re right,” laughs Sam again. They cling to each other, tight enough to nearly bruise; a skeleton falls from nowhere at all, and Ashley jumps in her arms. “Just remember that none of this shit is real, okay? Like Chris said! Plastic skeletons and cheap spiderwebs.”

“I wasn’t listening to Chris.” Ashley’s breath is hot against her shoulder. Sam wonders how it can be possible for her to have the greatest experience of her teenage years while in the goddamned _Terror House_ , surrounded by all the generic-brand public use frights that the park could buy. “Even if it isn’t real, it’s still really frickin’ scary!”

Sam nods, rubbing Ashley’s back in slow, purposeful circles. The second floor of the house has more of a murder theme, and she wonders how they got the rights to big names like Michael, Freddy, and Jason. A chainsaw sound revs up somewhere and Ashley screeches, louder than any of the stock noises or the eerie string music.

When Sam doesn’t also scream, too consumed by thoughts of lesbianism and copyright infringement, Ashley’s eyes shoot open so that she can glare. She accuses, “You’re not even scared!”

At first, Sam considers lying, but… this really isn’t that bad. The scariest parts so far have been the lack of safety regulation. Like, seriously, should they be able to turn like this in the seat? “Not really.”

Then the lights cut out entirely, leaving them in the dark. The cart moving beneath them and the distant screams of other riders are the only sounds that can be heard in the quiet, and the only feature Sam can make out on Ashley’s face is the white in her eyes. Ash breathes, “You’re brave.”

Then Ashley moves in the darkness to kiss her, and Sam freezes up with her fists full of fabric. The cart drops without warning, careening down the track so suddenly that it’s a marvel Ash doesn’t bite her tongue right off. Sam gasps into the kiss, and then she surges to return it before they can hit the ground again, and before Ashley can start to doubt herself.

A standing poltergeist pops up from nowhere, cackling so loudly it echoes, and Sam actually does bite through Ashley’s lip. The horror is instant; Sam screams. “Oh my god! Ashley, I’m so— I’m so sorry, are you okay?!”

Reaching up to touch her own lip, Ashley mumbles, “Uh-huh,” and then kisses Sam before she can move her hand away. Her fingers trace along Sam’s cheek, and it tastes like blood— real blood, not the faded red paint splattered across every wall here. Sam groans, soothing over the cut with her own mouth and now Ash is gasping, and suddenly the terrors around them don’t seem so daunting at all.

A camera flashes, throwing both girls off their rhythm. Ash pulls away first, chest heaving as she sinks back down into her own seat. A seven-foot devil zooms by, and she hardly bats an eye. Sam informs her, “Your lip is bleeding.”

“I know, I can taste it,” Ashley replies. She smiles, and Sam’s blood ignites. Some headless corpses leaning against each other wave goodbye to them as their cart slows to a stop, and daylight shines down on the girls again. Sam wants to kiss her again so badly, but it’s harder now that they’re back in reality.

They climb out of the ride and thank the attendant, and then wait outside the gate for their friends to emerge. Sam’s head is spinning, especially when Ash reaches out to take her hand. “I’m buying that photo,” she informs Sam, still anxious but now grinning like the devil.

“They’re like thirty dollars!”

“Worth it,” Ashley says. Sam squeezes her palm. “I’m getting it framed.”

“We can just take more,” begins Sam, but she falters as Chris and Josh finally get off the ride. Chris picks up the giant duck from where they left it, and Josh whistles cheerfully. Oh, god, Josh’s plan. So much for all that. She can’t bring herself to regret it, but that’s gonna be a pretty hard explanation.

Except then Josh and Chris walk over, and neither of them looks that irritated. In fact, Chris is flushed, and Josh is— “No way,” Sam shrieks. “Did you two just spend that whole ride making out?”

“Not quite,” replies Josh, smiling like the cat that got the cream. Chris’ blush gets ten times worse. “Wanna go again?”

Chris sputters, “We’re definitely banned from that ride. For— for life.” Josh shrugs with one shoulder. “We should probably get out of here, actually.”

“First I wanna see our pictures,” says Ashley. Chris squawks and drops the toy, and he and Ash race over to the stand where some poor cashier is probably phoning security already. Josh pats Sam on the shoulder, and she wonders if this was his plan all along or if he’s that good at rolling with the punches. Then she tastes the blood on her lip again, and smiles, deciding that it really doesn’t matter.


End file.
